Lee, May and Marie's Big Picture Show
by BarthVader
Summary: Lee recaps the events that made her and her sisters change their ways. The third part of The Regret Tetralogy. (rewritten)


**void AuthorsNote(){**

**Welcome to The Regret Tetralogy, Episode Three. After nine years in development, hopefully it will have been worth the wait.**

**Proofread and corrected by PhoenixVersion1. I can't thank them enough.**

**And as much as I tried avoiding this, a few parts of the BPS could get retconned for the purposes of this story. Hopefully it's not too blatant and can be forgiven.**

**For the record, **normal text** is Lee's narration and dialogue, while **_italics_** are Eddy's comments.**

**}**

So, you're probably wondering 'why did I smash that bloody mirror?'.

At first, I didn't really want to tell ya the whole thing, but now, when I think about it, it seems pointless. I literally can't get any lower than this, I'm knocking at the bottom from below. So, here's the complete story. Brace yourself, 'cause it's a long one.

It all began yesterday. It was a day like any other, we were doing our laundry behind our trailer. Bickering, joking, minding our own business. And then, the kid with a retainer... Jamie?

_Jimmy._

I need to sit down and learn the names of all of you guys.

_Well, I'm Edward, and my friends are Edward and Eddward._

Ha ha ha. Anyway, we're having some fun with him, don't look at me like that, and then he says that you three are in trouble. Before we had managed to interrogate him, that red-headed spoiled cunt appeared. She's outnumbered. We pin her down on the ground and give her a wet willie to make her talk. I don't regret it, she's a bitch. Ed would've stabbed you both with a dull pencil and then took a bath in your blood if she ordered him to. And what does he get? Being treated like shit and snitched on at every possible opportunity. Fuck her. I can count on Marie and May as much as they can count on me. Or so I hope.

She keeps her mouth shut, but the retainer kid spills the beans. We decide to drop everything and come to the rescue. Not 'cause we like you, but 'cause it's an excuse for a brawl. At worst, we can say that we just wanted to defend the three guys about to be mob-lynched.

_Okay, since we're at that: why me, Ed and Double D? Why weren't you kissing the shit out of Kevin or Rolf or anyone else? Or some guys your age from the trailer park?_

Bleh. I wouldn't touch 'em, the guys from the park, with a ten-foot long pole. As for why you and not someone else... dunno. There were three of you, and three of us. Plus, you were outcasts, no one really cared about you. But, y'know, it's not that I don't like you. Well, partially. Sort of. Like the kind of respect you show your opponent in a boxing match. You're bold, confident, a strong leader. You have lots of ideas and are willing to execute them, and you stick to your guns... Don't mention this to my sisters, okay? I'm already going too soft.

_Geez, I gotta meet this guy you're talking about._

_Seriously, I ain't a guy to be admired. I'm just a stubborn cretin, and almost all my ideas were so fucking dumb I have absolutely no idea why shit like that hadn't happened earlier. I stumbled upon my bro's trailer by sheer accident. We just wandered around like a buncha idiots and I managed to piss off Double D so hard he almost ditched us._

You'll get better at it, I'm sure. Just learn from your mistakes for once.

But back on topic, we harnessed them to the wagon we had used to keep our laundry on and sat on it. It works as well as you would expect. The fashionista is a pussy, and the bitch can't pull it by itself. More to that, I got jockeyed and they managed to free themselves and run away. We lost their trail somewhere in the sunflower field, a few miles away from the old factory.

Still, we had an edge, being accustomed to rough conditions and knowing a few things about tracking people down. Years of playing Hares and Hounds – it's one of those games you can afford when you can't afford much. Though I gotta admit, we found the farmer by accident. We were following the trail of the jock's bike, when someone walked, or more accurately, stumbled on the road, with his head stuck in a meat grinder. Before he had noticed what hit him, we tied him with a piece of cable and tossed him on the wagon.

By the evening we got to the swamps and found the blondie. What was her name?

_Nazz._

Her parents must've loved her. Still, she was sitting near the fireplace, angry at something. The jock and his bike were nowhere in sight, I guess he went to collect some berries or whatnot. One person is easier to deal with than two, so we decided to grab her before he returned. We tied, gagged, and dragged her away.

It was getting late. We didn't expect this succour to take more than a few hours, and we weren't exactly prepared for staying outdoors for the night. Still, we were too far from Peach Creek to get back before the night, so I started a fire to keep us and the two warm, May made an improvised fishing rod out of a few hair of hers, a branch and a clip she found in her pocket and caught a few fish for dinner, so we wouldn't be hungry. We all sataround the fire, those two, Ralph and Nazz tied up,...

_Rolf._

...me and my sisters frying the fish on sticks. This wasn't some luxury cuisine, but still, beggars can't be choosers.

"Are you hungry?" May asked the hostages, checking whether the first trout is done.

"Bugger off." the chick replied.

Marie just looked at her.

"She tried to be nice, you could be show some gratitude, bitch."

The blonde raised her head and, honestly, I've never seen a gaze so full of hate. And I've seen a lot.

"A textbook case of irony." she said, slowly, venom dripping from her voice. "Though it probably went over your head, trollop."

Now, when you live in a trailer, everyone assumes you're a moron, and, if you have tits, that your vagina is a local tourist attraction. Believe it or not, we ain't that eager to sleep around, and all that shit really gets on our nerves, especially Marie's. Quite ironic, considering she's the biggest perv outta me and my sisters. She stood up, grabbed the chick by the collar and raised her to her eye level.

"Repeat that, I dare you." she said through her teeth.

"Didn't you hear the first time?"

Marie headbutted her, and dropped her like a sack of potatoes. She laid there for a few seconds, hissing in pain. Then she slowly turned her head towards us.

"You know, it's just a matter of time before someone will show you."

I chuckled. "Is that a threat?"

"Of course not." she replied, smiling evilly. "There's three of you, you're stronger than me, and I'm tied up. Still, someone is going to kick your butts sooner or later. I just hope that I'll witness that moment." I don't know why, but she made me shiver a bit. A little bit. It could be her voice – cold, slow, emotionless. May looked at her, disturbed.

"Like, who?" Marie asked, cocky.

"Like, everyone?" the girl mocked her. "Everybody hates you. At some point, the Eds will snap. If they survive this mess, I give them three more months. They're more than capable of putting you in your place. And I'm pretty darn sure the others will put their differences aside and help them with beating you up. Nothing unites people better than a common enemy..."

"You're gonna eat that fish or not?" I interrupted her, wanting to stop that hannibal-lecture of hers.

She turned to me. "No, thanks. I'd probably choke on a fishbone."

"Rolf wouldn't mind."

May approached the guy and started feeding him the fish bits in silence. I was glad the conversation was over. After the meal we extinguished the fire, laid down on the ground and all fell asleep.

Well, all but me.

I was thinking about what the blondie had said. I'm not going to pretend I had a sudden change of heart, I was thinking more about the technical side of this. After all, the whole thing started with you being forced to run away. If they were willing to go on a cross-country trip to beat you up, could they possibly do the same thing with us? It wasn't even about me, if something serious happened to Marie or May, God forbid, I'd hate myself for the rest of my life.

_Puh-leaze, don't tell me they can't defend themselves._

Yeah, I know, it seems irrational, but they're my sisters after all, I can't help but worry about them. Until today I thought it's kind of a given.

Anyway, I was tossing and turning for the whole night. At around 5 AM, when the sun was rising, I realized I'm going to need some caffeine to get through the next day. Plus, I wasn't really looking forward to eating half-raw fish for breakfast, so getting some food seemed like a good idea. I had some cash on myself, so I decided to look for a shop. I wrote a note for my sisters (in the mud, with a stick) to not worry about me, walked back to the road, and went along it.

After an hour or so I got to some town and found a 24/7 liquor store. I've entered and saw a kinda familiar face. Like you, but taller and with a goatee. I must've been staring too long, 'cause he turned around and spat:

"What you're lookin' at?"

"Sorry, you just remind me of someone." I replied. "Do you know a guy called Eddy?"

He smirked. "Pipsqueak? He's my little brother. And you?"

I outstretched my hand. "Lee Kanker. A friend of his." Yeah, we both know that it should be more like 'a chick that made him gay', but that's not the point...

_I'm not gay._

Aw come on, I've seen how you were looking at Double D.

_It wasn't like... just go on with the story._

"So, sweetheart, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Not much. Your bro is on the run, and I'm trying to help him. And you?"

"Me? I live here. I've got a trailer in the amusement park down the street." He moved closer to me. "And, as far as I know Eddy, he'll probably want to hide at my place. You wanna wait for him?"

He was hitting on me. Even if I was digging desperate guys, I had May and Marie waiting for me in the forest, so I explained to him in simple terms that I'm not in the mood.

"No."

He smiled. "I like it when a girl plays hard to get."

"And I hate when a guy doesn't know what 'no' means. Lemme educate you." I pushed him away. "It's used to, amongst other things, express refusal. Piss off."

At this point the clerk intervened and your brother had to get out. I bought two cans of Red Bull, some sandwiches and a big bottle of carbonated water and let him keep the change. I downed the energy drinks, tossed away the cans, took the back door, just to avoid the scumbag, and walked back to the camp.

Before I even got there, I could hear that May and Marie were arguing about something. Indeed, when I got to the place where our campfire was, they were pushing each other, shouting and waving their arms around.

I stepped between them. "What the hell is going on here?"

"May is a moron, that's what's going on!" Marie shouted.

I sighed. "Tell me something I don't know. Details, please."

"She let loose the farmer and the bitch!"

Indeed, I've noticed that the two are walking around, stretching a bit. I turned to Nazz or whatever her name was, hoping to get some information.

"Okay, why aren't you and the foreigner tied?"

"May said that she'll let us go if we'll tell her what we know and leave the Eds alone." the chick explained. "We're don't care about them anymore. We're tired and hungry, and just want to go home."

"Overruled. You ain't going nowhere." I declared.

Nazz groaned. "Can we at least walk around for a bit? My limbs are all stiff."

"Yeah, sure. I'm not that much of a cunt."

"And about that..." She outstretched her hand, avoiding my gaze. "Sorry for being mean to you yesterday. I was just angry at... never mind. I was angry."

"You still can't go." Marie said.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I just feel bad with what I said and want to apologize. Nothing more."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I shook her hand and turned to my sisters. "So, what did they say?"

"Not much." May started. "There are two more people after our boyf-" she paused for a second, "the Eds. The jock and the kid with a plank. And they're probably trying to get to Eddy's brother's place, though we don't know where he lives."

"I know." I smiled. Everything was getting along nicely, so I put my doubts aside. "I've stumbled upon him in the town. He has a trailer an hour away."

"What are we waitin' for?" Marie asked. "Let's go there and wait for our hubbies to arrive!"

I pulled out the food from the bag. "Breakfast first."

We sat down and silently ate the sandwiches and drank the water. I even gave some food to the two, just to make sure they won't protest too much. After that, I tied the hostages again, though less firmly than the last time. 'Cause they learned who's in charge now.

We managed to catch the jock on the way. You remember you had left your clothes in our trailer the first time we met?

_Gosh, out of context this sounds even more awful._

Anyway, we kept them. Not in a stalkerish "fap to them" way, me and Marie just wear the same size as Ed and you. They're still intact, mostly, and we had them with ourselves, just in case. Marie put on your polo shirt and jeans and we lured... Kevin, right?

_Yep_.

We lured him into a little trap. It went pretty well, though his bike ended up trashed. I swear that Nazz chick smiled when she saw that. After Marie tied him up, we just went to the town and hid opposite the amusement park entrance, waiting for you or the plank kid to arrive.

We didn't have to wait long. After about half an hour you guys arrived. We made our entrance, and for a moment I thought everything would return to the status quo and I'd go on with my life of a trailer trash pervert. But then shit hit the fan... Mind if digress a little?

_Not at all._

You know, my ma raised me to believe that no one is going to care about you, so why should you care about others? You've gotta be manipulative, ruthless, conniving, or you'll end up as someone's bitch. This mindset had led me to a dead-end I'm in now, but that's not the point. She also taught us that there is one exception to that rule. No matter what happens, your family is your sheet anchor. Your safe haven. Your support, no matter how fucked up the situation is. For my whole life I was surrounded by lots of people, some decent, some scumbags, but every single one of them treated his mother, brother, sister, with respect. Okay, Sarah or whatever her name is a bitch, but she should grow out of it. That bastard... words just fail me here, age twenty-something, was getting his kicks from beating up his brother, half his motherfuckin' age, unable to defend himself... that's low, that's just too fuckin' low.

Anyway, the dipshit showed his true colors, Ed gave him a well-deserved beatdown, and then you all walked away. We drag him in, with what seemed to be an obvious intention: to kiss the fuck outta him. I planned to stay behind this time, 'cos the guy was hitting on me earlier, and the whole point of that schtick is that the guy isn't supposed to enjoy it. So, me and May entered the trailer, Marie hinged the door and pulled out a lipstick. As she was putting it on, she looked at us.

"And you? What are you waiting for?"

I realized that my youngest sister is standing there as well, face down, hands behind her.

"Do we really have to do this?" she asked.

I turned to her. "Something's wrong?"

"Um, no, nothing. Nothing at all."

I smirked. "Doesn't look like nothing. C'mon, what's bugging you?"

"Well..." she stammered, "this guy's a jerk... he lives in a freakin' amusement park... his whole life is harassing the weaker ones..."

"Bottom line." I interrupted her, slightly annoyed.

She took a deep breath.

"How- how are we different from him?"

If it was about anyone else, literally anyone, I wouldn't react. Just dismiss it, the guy's trying to guilt-trip me. But compared to that... motherfucker... that actually hurt me a bit.

I put my hand around her shoulder. "We wouldn't beat you up for shits and giggles, for instance."

She raised her head and looked at me. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah! Of course, I'm sure about that!" I replied, trying to sound confident, but a little thought appeared in my head.

She's afraid of me. My own younger sister doesn't trust me. I did something wrong. I started thinking what could happen, when did I cross some lines regarding her to give her a reason to fear me.

"Why are we even doing this?" she asked.

"'Cause people are dicks." Marie said. "Exhibit A's lying out cold on the floor."

"But they aren't all like that." May retorted. "The Eds, for instance..."

"Seems you've already forgotten how they treated us the first time we met." my middle sister interrupted her.

"Once, a year ago." May shot down her argument. "Let's be honest, they treat us with more respect than our own fathers."

_Even me?_

Even you.

_Geez..._

"Ethan was kind at first too."

_Um, who's Ethan?_

...let's just say he was a motherfucker my mother used to know and end it here.

"This was a mask, from the start." May retorted. "We've known the Eds for a year." She snickered. "Yeah, 'known'. Let's call a spade a spade. Stalked. Bullied. Molested. We know everything about them: birthdays, interests, plans for future, when they sleep, what they eat, to what they jack off, every-single-frickin'-thing."

_...I'd rather not hear that, y'know. I'm already paranoid enough._

I'm just recapping how this whole situation went, without sugarcoating. I ain't gonna pretend it all flipped our personalities upside down. Plus, it's not like you're putting some effort into hiding your magazines.

"And they are like that. It's who they really are." May went on. "And we? We're just harassing them for laughs and lols. There's no two ways around it – we are this guy. And I feel bad with it. I feel bad with all this stuff we've done." She looked at me with a frown on her face. "Now, you're going to mock me for this, aren't ya?"

Before I or Marie could say a thing, we've heard a cough. We turned around to saw the cuntwaffle, conscious, standing between us and the door with his hands crossed and a half-smug, half-sleazy grin on his fucking face. As if he could stop the three of us.

"Hello again, sweetheart." he said.

"Goodbye." I tried to pass him, but he kept sidestepping and blocking me.

"Aw, c'mon, why won't you stay?"

To put it mildly, this guy was pissing me off. I grabbed him by the collar, pulled out my knife, opened it – that's why I love balisongs, you can open and close them with one hand – and pointed it at his throat.

"Get outta the way." I demanded.

The fucker went pale. I released him and he made a few steps sideways, away from me. Again, it's easy to torment the weaker, but when they fight back, the fun stops.

"One thing before I leave." I spat, moving the knife closer to myself, but keeping it raised. "What you did a while earlier... it's just beyond me. How the fuck can you make a punching bag outta your own younger brother..."

"Geez, you're one overreacting bitch..."

I punched him in the stomach, he doubled over. By God, he had earned it.

"Do not interrupt me. If I will ever hear from Eddy that you were beating him up like this, I'll find you. And believe me, this ain't gonna be a pleasant experience. Is that clear?"

He stammered out "Y-y-yes." and I slammed his head against the wall. And he passed out. No, seriously, that was a light tap on the head, and he's down for the count. Pathetic. I turned around and saw May looking at me with a stern face, her arms crossed.

"You ain't really the right person to call him out on this, y'know." she said.

I wanted to reply, but she interrupted me. "Whatevs. Let's get back home." Then she left the trailer, visibly irritated.

We walked back to Peach Creek, without saying a word to each other. I had more than enough time to think about what happened. And the more I was thinking, the more I despised myself. 'Cause May was right, there's no difference between me and him. We're both pathetic creatures tormenting weaker people for shits and giggles.

_Don't be so harsh on yourself. If I was living in such conditions..._

...this wouldn't change you in any way. Face it, the crap you went through, the stuff I alone did to you, would be enough to jump off a cliff or throw me from it. Freudian excuses are bullshit, normal people don't become evil, no matter what hardships they face.

_You're right... I guess..._

I'm not referring to you. I was harassing people for the sadistic pleasure of it, you had a clear goal: to get some cash for those bloody jawbreakers. I don't get it, how can you eat this stuff, it's just a pound of flavoured molten sugar... Fuck, I drifted off topic.

By dusk we got to the street you live on and decided to peep from a distance, see what you were up to. The blonde chick had thrown a party. There was music blaring from the boombox, food on the table, and you all but three people were having fun.

_Wait, three?_

You, Sockhead, and the big-headed kid peeping from the bush. The one with a plank.

_Jonny?_

That might be his name. Seemed kinda angry. What did ya do to him? Anyway, we're looking from a distance from all this, May is still pissed, and then all of a sudden she goes:

"We won't get a happy ending."

Me and Marie look at her.

"Look at them, all cheerful and dancing and having fun, and us, peeping from a bush, buncha trailer trash perverts." She raised her voice slightly. "We're hated by everyone and we'll end up just like that pathetic sonuvabitch in the amusement park. We have nowhere to go and no one to count on. When do you think they will come for us with torches and pitchforks? Next month? Next week? Tomorrow?"

She gazed into my eyes, as if she wanted to kill me with her cockatrice-like stare.

_Cock-a-what?_

Sigh... Basilisk.

"Thanks a lot, sis. Thanks a fucking lot." she spat, turned around and marched away towards our home.

I'm going to be honest with you: it's not about feeling bad for what I did. I do, sort of, but it's not about that. It's not about being the bane of society either, 'cause frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. But the fact that I dragged my sisters down as well... that's something I cannot forgive myself for.

Returning to the trailer park didn't lighten up the mood. We were welcomed by a bunch of drunken fuckwits wolf-whistling at us. I'm getting older, had turned fifteen last month, some chicks get pregnant that old. A few guys have started hitting on me recently, and let's just say that compared to them, I'm a goddamn beacon of subtlety when it comes to romance. Karma at its finest.

I entered the trailer, tired, to be greeted by my worried ma. We had to listen for half an hour about how she was worried about us, we left the laundry halfway done, she thought we were abducted or something, and are kept in someone's basement as sex toys or whatnot. Since we're at it, how did your parents react?

_They didn't. When I returned home, there was a piece of paper stating they went on a trip with Ed's parents and will return in three days._

...that's slightly disturbing.

Anyway, we quickly explained to her what happened, as she had to go to work. She works 12 AM to 12 PM as a guard in the docks. Shitty job, but pays well enough to feed four mouths. May was still angry at me, so I decided to crash on the couch in the living room. I was tired, pissed, and just wanted to rest. I fell asleep quite fast, but my subconscious decided to torment me a bit. I had nightmares.

It starts with me in an empty church. It was Gothic, I think, quite high, ogival arches, huge-ass windows and all that jazz. It's dark outside, only a few torches on the walls light the place up. There's a catafalque in front with an open casket in it. A priest is standing by the altar, reading something from the Bible.

I walk down the hall, towards the casket. My steps echo in the empty building. The priest doesn't seem to care. As I get closer, the 'sermon' turns out to be "I'm no longer worthy to be called your son." repeated over and over again. I approach the coffin to notice a very familiar face in it. My face. A dead ringer of me is lying in the coffin, in a torn tank top, with slightly burnt skin, hands crossed, hair messy. I stare at it, and all of a sudden, I hear a sharp 'amen' from behind me. I turn around to notice a reverend standing behind me. He looks at me with pity and crosses himself.

Then, the floor under the catafalque and me disappears and I fall down.

A few seconds later I hit the ground. It didn't hurt. I momentarily spring up and check the surroundings. I'm in a forest. It's almost pitch black, but there is some light peeping from behind the trees. It's uneven and flickering, like from a fireplace. I stand up and slowly walk towards it.

After a minute or so I notice that the light seems kinda too bright for a normal bonfire and I begin to smell something beyond burning wood. Like plastic and some other things. I speed up a little. I notice I'm about to get out of the forest. I step out of the woods and somehow enter the Park'n'Flush. My trailer stands on the opposite end of the parking, fucking ablaze. It's otherwise completely dark. There's no one around, I just stare at it, unsure. Suddenly, I notice something lying not too far away from me. I creep towards it, only to realize that those 'somethings' were my sisters lying beaten up, burnt and bruised.

_Damn... That's harsh._

You don't say. I jump to May and check her pulse. Something's there, but barely. I slap her lightly in the face.

"May? You okay, sis?"

She opens her eyes, raises her head and looks at me with an unfocused gaze.

"Y-you hear me?" my voice cracks. "Wh-what had happened here?"

"I..." she replies, struggling, "I needed... your... help... Where... were... you..."

Her head falls limply, I check her pulse again. Nothing.

"May?" I shake her. "May?!"

Then, I hear a silent, painful groan. I look sideways and see Marie turning her head slowly and squinting at me.

"Lee..."

Suddenly, her eyes widen and she tries to raise her hand to point at something.

"Be... hind..."

I turn around just in time to see a guy with a baseball bat, mid-swing. I close my eyes, waiting for the blow, but instead, there's a brief flash of light, as if someone took a photo with an old camera.

I open my eyes, and notice I'm in a room. Brightly lit, for a change. There's a couch I'm lying on, a table, a bookshelf and some other furniture. Everything's so white and sterile, it looks like Double D's wet dream. I stand up, slowly, still feeling dizzy. I notice an opened door, so I decide to check what's behind them. Every step feels like trying to walk up a wall, but I finally manage to get there and enter.

It's a washroom. Or at least I think it was a washroom, there's a sink and a mirror hanging above it and nothing else. I decide that rinsing my face with cold water will help me calm down a bit. I get there, turn the sink on and bend down, only to hear a loud, sharp:

"Kill yourself."

I raise my head and put up fists, startled, looking for the source of the advice.

"Yes, you. The skank with curly red hair. I'm talking to you."

I realize that my reflection on the other side doesn't mirror my movements and instead stands there with its arms crossed. I lower down my hands.

"What, puta no comprende?" she spits. "Okay, I will explain this slowly. Take a knife, and slide it on your wrist, like this." She shows the inside of her palm and runs her finger slightly below it. "The pointy end towards your hand. Or..."

_Erm, can you spare me the details?_

Okay, okay. It lists the ways of committing suicide, with all the minute details, as if explaining this to a brain-dead moron. After the fifth one, I finally interrupt her.

"No."

She smiled. "Why not?"

"'Cause it's a coward's way out." I replied. "I ain't gonna leave Marie and May alone."

The reflection let out a snicker. "A model older sister. They'd be better without you, admit it."

I'm not responding. She's right.

_It can't be that bad. I mean, they don't hate you._

"Think about all the good stuff that would happen if you died." the reflection goes on. "The girls would get some sympathy, and if you put some effort into it, maybe some insurance cash? And you know that rule about not speaking ill of the dead? Maybe someone's going to tell a nice thing about you, for the first time in your fucking life. Look at you, you look like someone drove an 18-wheeler over your face and put a mop on that."

_Okay, you ain't Miss America, but hey, it could be worse. And you should've seen Nazz without makeup. Just ask your sisters for some tips or something._

You're just saying this to cheer me up. You're lying through your teeth.

_I'm not!_

You are. But never mind. I try to speak up, but the thing interrupts me.

"I know what you're gonna say. Something about being useful. You aren't. You have no ambitions, talents, past or future. You had a clean slate after moving in and wasted it in just a year."

I lower my head in shame.

"You'll prolly get pregnant in your teens and die before forty of methanol poisoning or something, leaving behind another generation of worthless scum, who contribute to nothing but overpopulation of this fucking planet. Admit it, you're nothing but an unremarkable trailer bitch."

I say nothing.

"Admit it."

"No." I don't want to give in. I'm just that stubborn.

"Admit it." the reflection repeats itself. "Admit it. Admit it…"

I close my eyes and just stand there, a protagonist of a grotesque getting berated by its own reflection. I feel like I'm drifitng away, and the voice of that thing becomes less and less audible.

After it becomes too quiet, I open my eyes. I'm lying on a couch in my trailer, awake.

Overall, I was feeling like shit, with the nightmares still fresh in my mind. I thought a glass of cold tap water will bring some sort of relief. I grabbed a mug that was lying on the table and went to the bathroom, it was closer than the kitchen sink. I entered, turned on the light, and put the mug under the running sink. After a second of hesitation, I looked in the mirror. There was nothing wrong with reflection this time, just me, with messy hair and baggy eyes under the fringe.

And it made me angry. At my mother, at my sisters, at the world, at myself, at everything. It reminded me that I'm in a fucking gutter with no means of getting out. The feeling of... what's the word... helplessness, and the fact that I had brought this on my own dumb head... I needed to let off some steam. And the mirror was close.

So I smashed it. I smashed it into a thousand pieces.

As the shards were falling down, I looked at my hand. Some pieces of glass were sticking out from it and blood was slowly dripping to the sink. I heard May and Marie frantically running down the stairs and a few seconds later, they walked in, with whatever could be used as a weapon in case of emergency. I briefly explained to them what happened, and after taking care of the wounds, I said I need to go on a walk. They protested a bit, but I just shrugged them off and left.

I had no set destination, just walked whenever my feet would carry me. Somehow, I ended up on your street. I noticed a faint light from the tv in your house, and you know the rest.

...thank you, Eddy.

_For what?_

For listening to my harangues. I know I said it already, but it really brings me relief.

_No problem. Now, how about we two get back to the cul-de-sac and check on... our… friends?_

_Geez, this sounds odd._

Friends?

_Our._

Yeah, kinda. Let's go.

_Hold on a second, I still need to go take a leak._

* * *

May and Marie were sleeping on a king-sized bed in their room. Tired after the long escapade, they didn't bother to change their clothes, take off their shoes or even make the bed they were lying on.

Suddenly, they sprung up, woken up by the sound of shattered glass.

"You hear that?" the blonde whispered to her blue-haired sister. She reached under the bed and pulling out a baseball bat. Standing up, she spun it around her wrist a few times, just for show.

"Sounds like someone's breaking in." Marie silently grabbed the golf club leaning against the wall. "If we'll get down there quietly, we can catch the bastards red-handed. And then it's defending our property, so we can beat the crap outta them." She smiled.

"Yeah." A smile appeared on the blonde's face as well, to be quickly replaced by a look of worry. "Lee's down there. She might be in trouble."

Marie's eyes widened. "Fuck!"

The girls swung the door open and hurried down the stairway, ready to charge at the potential burglars in case their older sister needed assistance. They ran to the living room, weapons raised, and started scanning their surroundings for anything unusual.

"Come out, come out..." Marie muttered, firmly gripping the bludgeon. "There are only three defenseless girls here..."

"Calm down, it's just me." someone replied from the other room. "I'm in the bathroom."

The duo approached the door behind which the person was located, weapons raised, in case this was a trap. May grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened them, and they both looked inside.

Neither of them expected to see Lee standing in front of the broken mirror, leaning on the sink, with her head down and small shards of glass sticking from her right palm. They gazed at the scene, slowly lowering their weapons, unsure whether to react or just leave without saying anything.

"Lee?" Marie dropped the club on the floor. "I-is s-something wrong?"

"I've just smashed a mirror with my bare fist." the redhead replied, slowly. "Also, I've ruined my life and dragged the only two people I care about down with myself. So, yes. Everything's wrong."

The girls remained speechless for a moment. Then, one of them broke the silence.

"I'm sorry."

Lee and Marie turned to their younger sister, surprised.

"What did ya say?" they asked in unison.

"I'm sorry. You're blaming yourself, 'cause I said all those things."

May put down her bat and stepped towards the redhead.

"I was angry at myself, tried to shift the blame to you two. But it's all bullcrap. I was putting Ed and the others through all that stuff not 'cause you two were forcin' me, but 'cause I liked it."

"Didn't we all?" Marie remarked.

"Still, I should've been treatin' you two better." their oldest sister replied.

"But you are treating us well." the blonde embraced her with one arm. "Sure, there were ups and downs, and sometimes you two made me cry, but... well, you ain't perfect. Neither am I. And I'm sure all that stuff was better than shelterin' me from all the crap of this world. And all my happy memories are somehow related to you, how we were spending time together, doing... things. Not only being mean to others. Fishing, playing in the forest, throwing your knives at the dartboard... all of my happy memories are somehow tied to you two." She paused for a second. "C'mere, Marie."

The bluenette approached her sisters, for May to embrace both her and her older sister. After a brief moment, Lee returned the hug.

It felt odd. She cared much for her sisters, but she never showed it in such way. She was usually manifesting this indirectly, by giving away a bigger piece of meatloaf, washing the dishes for them or beating up someone who dared to look at them funny. She preferred actions over empty gestures. Now, that her sister was tightly latched to her, she started thinking that maybe such gestures are important as well.

"I... I want you two to know something." Lee spoke up. "I ain't the best older sister on Earth, but I still love you more than my own life."

_Not that it means much_, she added in her mind.

"And I'm really glad to have you both, ya little brats."

"Hey!" Marie reacted. "You're just eleven months older!"

"You could be born half a second later, and you'd remain my lil' sis." Lee released her sisters and returned to picking out the glass from her palm.

"Need some help with it?" May asked.

"Nah. " She grabbed a pair of tweezers with her left hand and began pulling out a piece of glass from her palm. The blonde girl grabbed them, yanking a shard from the wound in the process. The redhead held back a hiss.

"No, let me help. It'll be easier for me."

Lee sighed. "If you really must."

May removed the other pieces of the mirror, more carefully than the first one, rinsed the wounds with tap water and put some bandages on the palm. The redhead inspected the dressing.

"Good job." She patted her sister on the head. "Thanks a lot. Now," she left the bathroom, " if you wouldn't mind, I need to go for a walk. Breathe some fresh air, collect my thoughts."

She grabbed her keys from the hanger and went towards the exit, only for Marie to jump between her and the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." she raised her hands. "It's three in the frickin' morning. I don't wanna find you later in an alley with your throat slashed or anything."

"I can take care of myself, don't worry about me." Lee pushed her sister aside. "And clean up that mess." As she grabbed the doorknob, she turned around for a moment. "Wrong. _Please_ clean up that mess." Then she left, slamming the door behind herself

The middle Kanker turned to her sister. "Will ya clean it up?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" she shrugged and went to the kitchen to fetch the cleaning suplies. "It's not like we'll fall asleep anytime soon after what happened."

Marie sat on the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV. The blonde returned to the living room, carrying a wet rag, a brush and a dustpan, and stood behind the couch, leaning against the back.

"Don't tell me you're gonna watch Channel 34 now."

The girl didn't respond. May poked her in the head, making her jump up slightly.

"Wha-?" she turned to the blonde. "Sorry, I've drifted away. You were sayin'?"

"You ain't gonna watch porn with me around, are ya?"

"Nah, I'm just flipping through the channels." she said, tapping the CH + button on the remote repeatedly. After a few seconds she turned the tv off and threw the remote away. "Dammit." She turned to her sister. "Promise not to laugh at me?"

May put her free hand on her heart. "Promise."

Marie sighed.

"I wanna apologize to Double D."

"Why should I laugh at you for that?" The blonde snickered. "You want to calm him down, so he won't be trying to rer-, retr-, bugger... retaliate?"

"Here's the thing, no." Marie stood up. "You remember how you said you feel bad? I feel bad too. Or so I think." She circled the couch and now was standing face to face with her sister. "I mean, you were right, there is no trick there, they are just that nice. And there's this... burning I feel, and I don't get it, it's probably some sorta... guilt? Regret? It feels bad and I want it gone."

She paused for a second.

"Maybe he will forgive me, or maybe he will tell me to go eat a dick, but I'm going to say sorry to him." She spun around and walked towards the door. "I'm going to his house. Right now."

May smiled. "And I'm going to big Ed's!"

Marie stopped dead in her tracks.

"No." She faced the blonde. "It's late at night, there's all sorts of scum on the street. I'm wearing all dark, I'll easily blend with the shadows. You'll be sticking out like a sore thumb. Wait till morning."

"Aw c'mon!"

"You are staying here, and that's final."

The blonde girl groaned in defeat. "Okay, okay."

Her sister grabbed two keyrings from the hanger.

"And _please_ clean that mess. If Lee will return before me, tell her I'm on a date with destiny." She chuckled at her own joke. "See ya later, sis. Wish me luck"

May said nothing, showing her crossed fingers instead. The blue-haired girl left the trailer, locking the door behind herself. Her sister grabbed the brush and dustpan from the floor.

"If I could get outta here somehow..." she muttered.

Suddenly, she dropped the appliances, as a metaphorical light bulb had appeared over her head.

She ran to the bathroom. After the Eds had made a hole in the floor last summer, digging for some 'treasure' Eddy's brother had supposedly buried there, Marie had made a hidden exit out of it, out of boredom. Though until then, no one had to use it, and it remained forgotten. The blonde girl had grabbed a rug on the floor and pulled it, opening the trapdoor with a loud creak. The middle Kanker had thought about everything: the rug was glued to the door in a way that allowed the escapist to close it from the other side without leaving a trace.

May had jumped into the hole. It was deep enough for her to stand upright and close the exit. She got out of it and crawled from under her trailer. Then, she stood up, dusted herself off and slowly walked towards the cul-de-sac, making sure not to bump into her sisters.

_This is gonna be easy_, she thought.

**I'd like to thank DarkLink12, for being one of the very few guest reviewers who managed to write something that can be called "constructive criticism". I'll try to get better, I promise.**

**There's a poll on my profile, asking you what should I write after finishing TRT. Check it out.**


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